Egg Eating Chickens.

[Col1948]

I am new to keeping BYC's, I've only had the girls just over a week, 2 of them are laying, but one of them has on 3 occasions broke the egg and eaten some of the inside.
I am getting a new shed today that I'm going to convert to a coop, hopefully to give them and me more room.
The reason I mention this is, the coop they have now I think is too small and they may be shuffling in the nest area and possibly breaking the eggs.
Anyway my daughter found something on the Internet about blowing an egg and filling it with mustard, it seems Chickens hate mustard so this might put them off breaking an egg to eat the inside.
Well, I tried it, I blew and egg, made one hole a little bigger and squirted mustard in, all was going well when the hole got a bit bigger and the shell started to crack round it.
Then I put a small piece of sticking plaster over the holes, but I notice after a while the mustard was leaking out, I never used it by the way, it ended up in the rubbish bin, but on that subject how do you plug a hole in an egg if this would work?

Col.

 

[New2Chicks97]

I think it depends on if the chicken in question is breaking the eggs on purpose or not. If the shells are thinner it could be just accidental.

I have one girl who has softer shells on her eggs sometimes and since she is new she isn’t always super careful when she lays. So I have found her broken eggs in the nesting box where she either stepped on it and it cracked or she laid it standing up and it dropped just right on another egg and broke. I have also found them in the run and under the roosts. With those eggs it must have been like.....whoops there’s an egg and the resulting drop must have cracked it. My chickens will of course chow down if they find a broken or cracked egg. I am careful to remove them as quickly as I can so they don’t get into the habit of eating their eggs.
If you think they are truly breaking them to eat them, you could try putting some of the fake ceramic eggs in there to discourage this behavior. I am sure pecking those would not feel good!

 

[Col1948]

Hi, yes I've got some fake eggs coming in the post, I expected them yesterday as it happens but hopefully today with luck.

Col.

 

[Mosey2003]

There are two main causes of egg eating: lack of quality protein in the diet and lack of clean, abundant water. If they're not eating a ration that contains at least 18% protein, switch to one that is. In the meantime, you can add high protein treats like mealworms. Also, if you're feeding a bunch of vegetables and bread, that will bring the protein content of their overall ration for the day down.

If you up their protein and ensure they have access to clean water at all times and they are still breaking the eggs to eat them, it is most likely a habit. Fake eggs might help. The mustard egg isn't reliable, from all that I've read, spicy foods really don't bother birds. Also, make sure they have access to oyster shells in case their shells are excessively weak.

 

[Gray Farms]

I've always used the mustard trick to cure egg eaters. Works every time for me.

 

[Col1948]

I've always used the mustard trick to cure egg eaters. Works every time for me.

Did it work on the chickens as well?

 

[Gray Farms]

Did it work on the chickens as well?

That's what I meant, egg eating chickens.

 

[Birds of a Feather]

If you collect the eggs regularly, you can minimize the time the eggs stay in the nest box, which can help with preventing egg eaters.

 

[Mosey2003]

Anyway, if you're going to be working on a new set up, it's a great time to Google how to make roll-away nest boxes, and make those for the new coop. Then you don't have to worry, regardless

 

[prinellie]

I have an Amish friend who has chickens and they are eating the eggs. Not sure how long, but if she ups the protein and has water aplenty and the oyster shell, and they still do it - is there any other ideas or is it 'freezer camp'??